Karam Kostner
KARAM KOSTNER is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Queensland and Director of Cardiology at Mater Public and Private Hospitals in Brisbane. As a cardiologist and one of the most experienced lipidologists in Australia, he oversees a large public and private lipid clinic. He is also a director of Cholesterol Care Australia, a specialist cholesterol clinic and research facility in Brisbane and a senior cardiologist with Heart of Australia, which delivers specialist healthcare services and testing to rural, remote, and indigenous communities across Queensland.
Karam’s clinical interests are preventative cardiology and lipid disorders. His passion combines helping people with high cholesterol and investigating new therapies for patients with elevated cholesterol. Cardiovascular research has involved him for 20 years, and, as principal investigator, he has conducted more than 65 clinical trials including many trials on lipid lowering therapies. His team developed an extracorporeal lipid removal technique called lipid apheresis and the first patients worldwide were trialled by his team in Brisbane. The team also developed a medication to decrease lipoprotein (a) which is currently in clinical trials.
Karam completed his schooling and most of his medical studies in Austria. He undertook post-doctoral work at the Royal Brisbane Hospital, University of Queensland, Brisbane (1991-93) before returning to Austria where he undertook specialty training in internal medicine (1994-98), graduating as a specialist in Internal Medicine in December 1998, before undertaking speciality training in cardiology (1998-2000), becoming a specialist cardiologist in March 2001. He became a professor of medicine in Austria at the age of 33 and is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Queensland. He returned to Australia in 2001 settling in Brisbane and continuing his career at the Mater Hospital and UQ.
Abstracts this author is presenting: